FIFA trial hears of dancing, private jet, massages

AFP / File / DON EMMERT
Former South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) president Juan Angel Napout arrives with family in Brooklyn, New York
A Brazilian businessman told a US Federal Court on Wednesday that he helped set up a huge bribe to South American football officials to secure the rights for a new tournament. Fabio Tordin testified in New York at the trial of South American football executives in connection with the largest graft scandal in world soccer history.
Tordin was one of 42 people indicted in the FIFA mega-scandal corruption. He pleaded guilty in 2015, agreed to return $ 600,000 and is now cooperating with the US government in the dock. Their trial started last month. Jose Maria Marin, 85, to form president of Brazil’s Football Confederation; FIFA Vice President Juan Angel Napout, 59, of Paraguay; and Manuel Burga, who are soccer in Peru until 2014, are charged with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies. Tordin said that it was a country in the United States, from CONCACAF, the football federation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, accepted nearly $ 500,000 from Argentinian sports company Full Play – but the tournament never saw the light of day. According to Tordin, the deal was set up by Miguel Trujillo, a Colombian football consultant with links to Full Play ‘s owners, Hugo and Mariano Jinkis. His account matched Trujillo’s, who was faster than he helped set up bribes between Argentine sports marketing companies and CONCACAF. – Massages – Tordin said that after lunching at the beach he, Trujillo, and CONCACAF moguls Alfredo Hawit, Rafael Salguero, and Ariel Alvarado returned to Jinkis’ “beautiful” country house. “It’s been to convince the (CONCACAF moguls) that Full Play could be the marketing arm of CONCACAF,” he said. “Full Play agreed to pay $ 300,000 for the signing authorities,” said Tordin, adding Hawit, president of CONCACAF, later said “deserved” $ 150,000 more – bringing the total payment to $ 450,000. Later in 2011, after a night of dancing and dining in Buenos Aires, the three CONCACAF moguls enjoyed a trip to an ultra-exclusive resort via private jet, Tordin added. Also included in Panama to form senior figures in Honduran, Costa Rican, Salvadoran and Guatemalan football. Tordin said that he and Trujillo would sometimes exaggerate the amounts of their debt at their bosses at events management company Media World, in order to keep a cut for themselves. Another government witness was Nelson Sanabria, former assistant to Napout, past president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL). He told the story of his massages, manicures and pedicures – appointments arranged by his discreet chauffeur. The three accused have pleaded not guilty. A total of 24 documents have already been issued in the area outlined in a 236-page complaint detailing and separate crimes and 15 corruption schemes to the tune of $ 200 million. US prosecutors announced the indictments on May 27, 2015, exposing a quarter-century of endemic corruption in the heart of FIFA, soccer’s governing body.